


bard's gambit

by love_coloured



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-07 14:39:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11061084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love_coloured/pseuds/love_coloured
Summary: Leliana's reputation is a burden where lighter matters are concerned; Sera eventually gets her message.





	bard's gambit

Sera ventured into the rookery only rarely, as the constant, unsettling rustle of wings overhead still made her shiver. She remembered that Leliana was usually at her desk on the far side but, as she eased her weight onto the last step and scanned this way and that, no trace of the spymaster could be seen. Two of her messengers consulted quietly in the storage area, and the silence was occasionally shattered by a rough squawk. Or one of those chattering, naked things…

She gritted her teeth. Dorian said he’d seen Leliana on her way up, and that she hadn’t come down. Sera declined to give her reasons for asking, and he’d given her one of his smug looks. She’d wallop him for that later, if she lived. He was burying his face in a dozen books about Tevinter genealogy at the time, so perhaps he hadn’t seen what he said he saw.

Or perhaps the ex-bard had ways of escaping unseen. Sera glanced suspiciously overhead, at the sound of beaks clattering against cage bars. Maybe she’d actually sprouted dark wings from her shoulders and _fluttered_ away; anything seemed likely enough. She balled her hands into fists and took to the shadows, making her way towards an alcove by the spymaster’s private chamber.

She hesitated to approach, haunted by the memory of Leliana’s placid, yet too-clever gaze meeting hers over a banquet table that morning, when she felt the back of her neck prickle. “Shit--!” Sera whirled around, her outburst spurring the nearest raven to respond, and the cavernous chamber erupted into cacophany.

Leliana stood over her, laughing softly at her consternation, the smile curiously touching her eyes. “That’s one mark for me. Your approach could use some work.”

“Bloody-- We, we’re… playing a game now?”

Leliana’s expression was unchanging, as peaceful as a saint carved out of marble. “Well, this is a surprise to me! Were we not before?” She opened the door to her chamber. “We can speak in here, if you’d like. Personal matters are best kept private, no?” The elf eyed her warily, but ducked inside nonetheless.

“You…” Sera felt heat on her cheeks and backed away, just three steps. Enough to breathe, and then she exploded. “Not here to cause trouble, so don’t go all Knifey Shivdark on me, just-- just tell me why you keep following me!”

Leliana’s eyes softened, flickering with realization. “I’m sorry. I should have realized… how this might seem.” She almost looked sad. Not morose or diffident, but almost… _lonely_? Sera shook it out of her mind as the bard slumped onto a nearby chair. “Josephine told me I was being ridiculous. She’s right, of course. Oh, why am I telling you this...”

“Right, right… And what’s that got to do with you nicking my underpants, passing me _mysterious_ messages in the tavern, or…?” Sera eyed her warily from across the table, not daring to take a seat. “Can’t be simply having a bit of fun. Not you, oh _Sister Nightingale._ That can’t be a thing! Well, it’s _my_ thing yeah, but--” There was a rush in her head, a dangerous thrill all the way up her spine from talking so boldly. Scary, but scary-good, and it only felt like this around _her_. She caught Leliana’s eyes by accident, and they dug down deep into hers. Suddenly she really wanted to vanish in a puff of smoke, or melt into the cracks in the floor.

A long sigh. “I should have explained myself properly. My manners have become atrocious after so long away from the court.” She leaned forward and beckoned for Sera to come closer. “Such a lovely mouth you have. Does it taste as sweet as it looks?”

Sera’s heart caught in her throat, and she knew her face was apple-red. “Are you frigging mad?” she sputtered after a few seconds of silence. “Ain’t happening, not a thing. _This_ \--” she gestured violently at her own body-- “is not a game.”

Leliana’s eyes lit up, faint crows-feet crinkling pleasantly. “I’m glad to hear that. You should protect your heart; true feelings of passion are so rare and precious...”

“What?” Sera was mortified to feel herself melt just a little, betrayed by her body’s immediate reaction. The spymaster on the other hand looked quite satisfied, as if she’d just snatched the finest of silver trinkets.

“If you doubt my intentions due to my reputation...” She stood and slipped the hood from her shoulders, and her hair glistened copper in the lamplight. She looked briefly vulnerable, alive and strange in a way Sera hadn’t expected even in her daydreams. She wondered about the weight of all that armor. What the sway of her hips would look like if…

“I don’t know...” Sera’s throat went dry as Leliana painstakingly removed her armor, piece by piece, ostentatiously setting aside any weapons on her person, until she was down to a simple tunic. She couldn’t stifle an embarrassed giggle. “You don’t-- don’t have to do that, I didn’t mean--”

“The last one,” she announced, and bared her leg to the mid-thigh to remove another hidden dagger. “If you don’t believe me, you can examine for yourself?”

Sera gulped hard and frantically waved her hands. “No, no, it’s not like that! I mean, it’s _like_ that, but… frigging shite!” There was that strange look again, as if she’d stumbled into a very private moment. Not stumbled, she reminded herself, as she was being most explicitly invited, but having such tricks turned upon herself for a change was disorienting to an extreme.

“If you would prefer to do so, I won’t complain. But it’s up to you.” The words rolled sweetly from Leliana’s tongue, like honey dripping over velvet. The glint in her eyes was maddening; she knew _exactly_ how she was affecting Sera, and she didn’t even have to exert any pressure.

Sera pointedly averted her gaze, though she knew how obvious it was that she couldn’t do so for long. “Right, then. Let me get this straight: _you_ were the one who played all those tricks on me. _You_ just happened to fetch something from the tavern every time I was having a drink. _You_ were the one who wrote all... those things.” Now she was blushing again, and began to be distracted by the curves and softness in front of her. “You? To _me_? Because… you…?”

“I apologize.” Leliana looked distant all of a sudden, and cast her gaze elsewhere. “You can think of it as humoring some fond memories of mine. I didn’t mean any harm by it, but… I can’t ask that of you. You’re not…” A peal of laughter spilled out, loud and clear, and something bright flashed across her features. Whatever it was, it died on the wing, leaving her eyes hollow. “It’s not fair to you, and I was wrong.”

“Leli...” She couldn’t finish, trapped between the desire for flight and the desire to… what now? Take this woman by the shoulders, say it out loud, press her lips against that graceful neck… but something stopped her. “Not like _her_ , you mean?”

Leliana smiled ruefully. “After all these years. I’m terrible. I should not have said that.”

Sera took a step closer, seeking her gaze this time, but it wasn’t returned. “S’alright. I get it, yeah?” She turned towards the door, fidgeting uneasily. “Well, you’re busy and all, so I should go and...”

“Sera?” She froze in the doorway and looked back, but Leliana just stared, as if she’d forgotten what she wanted to say. In an instant her face transformed, back into the clever and dispassionate mask she donned for business. “Don’t listen to my ramblings. You’re free to go.”

“See you around, then?”

“As ever. I’m getting back to my work.” She turned her back, and did not watch Sera leave.

 

 

Leliana awoke just before dawn, to the restless complaints and “intruder” calls of her flock. She opened her door expecting one of the scouts, but the chamber was vacant. She smelled something familiar, however; a carefully woven garland of Andraste’s Grace draped over her door. A small note was attached. It read merely, “I like you too.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> First time attempting to write Leliana. Got random inspiration to write this late at night. I like the idea of playing these 2 off one another and it ended up more interesting than I expected (for me.)
> 
> I feel like they both think they've got the other pegged, and they sort of do, but end up surprised that the other way around is also true? 
> 
> Thanks to roguefreyja for making me ship it, and the enabling <3


End file.
